How to Train for a Charity Walk

Back in May I thought it would be a good idea to sign-up for the Weekend to End Women's Cancers.  I still think its a great cause and will be quite the accomplishment once its done.  The problem is that I'm not sure I'll be able to do it! Here's the lowdown:

What: 60 km charity walk to raise money for the Princess Margaret Hospital
When: September 8-9
Where: Toronto - Exhibition grounds to Downsview Park and back the next day
How Much: All two-day walkers (that's me!) must raise a minimum of $2000 in order to participate

Step One: Whine 

While I have my qualms with the "minimum" fundraising amount, I can understand that they have a very ambitious goal and if they didn't set this type of goal for everyone it would take a lot longer to raise the money.

The issue is that raising $2000 is hard! Once you've asked your family and friends, unless you have a number of other "circles" (church groups, sports teams, etc) you've pretty much tapped all of your sources.  My team and I have been holding a number of events at work, and I fear that soon we're going to exhaust that pool as well.

So - its time to get creative.

Step Two: Raise Money

First creative idea... bag groceries for donations!  I contacted a local grocery store and asked if we could do this and they were very excited to have us.  I'm thinking that if we create enough excitement and provide a service to the customers, we'll get some of their change.  Fingers crossed.

Creative idea number two... wear embarrassing shirts while training.  Think "Now Accepting Donations".  My two best teammates and I have been "training" (see: walking) long distances on the weekend, most recently along a lakeshore trail.  This is apparently a very popular spot and we thought that if we wear obnoxiously pink shirts and hats and plaster ourselves with info about what we're doing and a shameless request for donations, maybe people with throw toonies at us as they cycle/walk/run/rollerblade by. No?

Step Three: Walk... A Lot

Next to the raising money part, this is the hardest.  I'll admit that I haven't been walking during the week as much as I should BUT I've managed to get up to walking 17 kms in a single trip on the weekends.  Incorporating walks into my evenings on a regular basis has been the biggest issue and I'm not sure how else to train.

When we walked the 17 kms this past weekend it was BRUTAL.  At times I just wanted to be carried back to my car.  Maintaining a good pace seemed to have been the biggest challenge so that we could be done before the heat of the day (which we weren't).

Do you have any suggestions for me?  Have you done a similar type of event before?  What other creative fundraising ideas are there?

If you'd like to donate (and please do!), you can do that by clicking here.